The Assistant
by PlayTheGame
Summary: "A woman was lying face down in the pillows, her shoulders rising and falling with every deep breath but Paul didn't need to see her face to know what he had done. The woman was blonde. The woman wasn't his wife." Lies. Obsession. Lust. Infidelity. Confusion. Guilt. Innocence. Paul Levesque gets a new assistant and with her way more than he bargained for. Triple H/Stephanie
1. Prologue

**A/N - So yeah, I've tried not to start anything new but it seems that until I got this off my chest, my brain wouldn't let me write anything else so here it is. Hope I haven't spooked you too much with this opener, haha. Remember, things aren't always what they seem lol. Strap in for the ride folks. Enjoy...**

* * *

_The blinding light of the sun easily penetrated the tall glass window of the hotel room. The curtains hadn't been drawn the night before. Clothes lay scattered across the floor; a red tie hanging off the back of a chair, a skirt, scrunched and kicked to the side of the bed. Paul Levesque slowly opened his bleary eyes. The air was hot and thick, causing the sheets to stick to his clammy skin. His head was spinning dangerously and he closed his eyes, desperately needing a moment to let his stomach settle from his slight movements. It didn't work. He began to sweat, tiny drops slipping from his forehead and in an instant, his stomach lurched. He was going to be sick._

_Paul swallowed the horrible lump back down his throat and threw the covers off. The hot air clung to his body as he staggered to the bathroom and emptied his guts in a retching, heaving mess. His hands were shaking when they grasped the toilet bowl and he was breathing heavily, his lungs desperate for fresh air. Air con. He needed to turn it on before he melted. Confident that he wasn't going to throw up again, he uneasily got to his feet and caught his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot with heavy bags underneath them while his skin was a sickly pale colour. What the hell had happened to him? His still shaking hands reached out and turned on the faucet to throw some cold water onto his face. It hit him like a ton of bricks and he inhaled sharply, the cool water shocking his senses. Letting the water drip from his face, his eyes darted around the tiny bathroom and immediately narrowed in confusion. He didn't recognize anything in here. In fact, there was nothing in there at all apart from the standard hotel amenities. Now that he thought about it, what was he even doing here and why the hell did he feel like a sack of shit? Had he been drinking? If he had he must have drank enough to sink a ship because he couldn't ever remember feeling like this in his life. The room was slowly spinning as he walked back into the main area and frowned at the sight before him. It was a complete mess with clothes strewn all over the room and empty bottles littering all the tables. Fuck. He had been drinking. His eyes were drawn to what appeared to be a thong hanging off the end of one of the bottles next to him. The silk was soft against his fingertips as he held it in his hands and looked at it with a frown on his face. He didn't recognize this. In fact, this entire scenario felt very wrong to him. He didn't even know what fucking day it was nor why was he in a hotel room having very clearly gotten piss face drunk the night before?_

_It was then that he noticed the feet poking out of the bottom of the white sheets. He cautiously walked towards the bed, his stomach once against in knots as an uncomfortable sensation gripped his entire body. He tugged the top of the blanket down as softly as he could and immediately felt sick again at the sight before him. A woman was lying face down in the pillows, her shoulders rising and falling with every deep breath but Paul didn't need to see her face to know what he had done. The woman was blonde. The woman wasn't his wife._


	2. Ordinary

**A/N - Just so you know, we're going back in time here. The prologue shows where we're going to end up but I got to get you all there first lol. Enjoy...**

* * *

The sound of little feet pattering along the dark hallway filled the otherwise peaceful house. It was early in the morning but Aurora Rose Levesque couldn't sleep. Tonight was her first solo ballet performance and she was desperate with excitement. She simply couldn't wait and as a result, couldn't sleep any longer either. After tip toeing out of bed she now found herself standing face to face with the door of her parent's bedroom. It was slightly ajar already and she pushed gently, poking her head around and encountering more darkness. They were still sleeping. Her little face scrunched into a frown but she decided to go in anyway. At least she would be able to watch some TV instead of lying in her bed doing nothing. Tip toeing inside the room, she quietly shoved the door over again and walked to the right side of the bed. The top of her mother's head came into view and Aurora smiled. The covers were pulled high and her father lay directly behind her, his face hiding in the pillow somewhere. Climbing stealthily onto the edge of the large bed, she snuggled her way under the blankets and attempted to cuddle in to her mother's warm body when a frown marred her pretty features. Glancing down, she noticed her father's large hand resting firmly across her mother's stomach. It was blocking her from cuddling in! With quiet outrage, she lifted his heavy hand, pushing it back over his body and tried with all she had to hold it in the air so she could slip under and then pull it back down again but it was to no avail. She simply couldn't muster the strength to hold the weight of the solid muscle and was forced to let go, the heavy arm falling back down and whacking its owner square in the face. A loud groan followed and she immediately sat back.

"Whoops!" Aurora stared on wide eyed, her gaze switching between her parents as something moved beneath the covers.

"Ughhhhhhh, wha….owwwww."

"Paul?" Stephanie mumbled as she blinked her eyes open. She had felt something knock against the back of her head but it was her husband's loud groan that had woke her up. Pulling her hand from under the covers, she was just about to crane her neck to see what was going on when she saw her daughter's overly innocent face staring at her. "Rory? Honey, what are you doing in here? Is everything OK?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded sweetly before letting out a giggle at the scene before her.

Paul held the side of his face as his head shot up from the pillow, his eyes barely open. What the hell had happened? He felt like he'd been punched in the face. The sound of his daughter's laughter however quickly changed his mood and he managed a smile. "What are you doing in here, huh? Waking everybody up I see," he grinned but his smile faltered when she continued giggling. "What?"

"You look silly, daddy," she giggled some more, truly getting a kick out of his current appearance. She always found him funny in the mornings. He looked like a zombie!

"I look silly huh? That's probably because I feel like I've been attacked in my sleep. That wouldn't have anything to do with you, would it?"

Aurora shook her head vehemently, protesting her innocence. "No!"

Stephanie shuffled up the bed and got comfortable, glancing between them. She had no idea what had happened but looking at her husband, the right side of his face did appear to be turning a nice shade of red. She reached up and gently ran her fingers over the glowing area. "What the hell did you do, Paul? You have a big red mark here."

"I don't know!" he cried. "I just felt something land on my head and that was it. Then I woke up to see your daughter over there looking way too innocent for her own good. Spill it, shorty. What did you do?" His eyes narrowed playfully at her as he too shuffled up the bed. When he was comfortable he patted the space between him and his wife and smiled when their daughter happily jumped in the middle. "Well?"

"I was only trying to lift your arm so I could cuddle in, daddy but it was too heavy! I dropped it and it fell down and hit you in the face," the little girl answered, trying to bite back her smile. It had been rather funny and the loud scoff of amusement that escaped from her mother didn't help matters.

He scratched at his head for a second before looking down at her. "You're telling me I punched myself in the face while I was asleep?"

"Yeah," Aurora replied nonchalantly before giving him her best smile. "Sorry!"

Paul turned to his wife and made a face before turning back to his daughter. "Sorry? I don't know if that's a good enough apology you know. I think I need something better than that."

Immediately guessing what was coming next, Aurora made a mad dash to get up and run away but she wasn't fast enough and was easily caught and gently flung back to the bed. She squealed and tried to wiggle against her mother for protection but it wasn't enough. Her father's fingers tickled her mercilessly.

"Now we'll see if you're really sorry," he grumbled, holding her down and taking a huge breath. He slapped his mouth to her neck and blew hard against her skin, the loud silly noise filling the bedroom along with her squeals of joy. He did it again and again, laughing himself as she laughed and giggled freely.

"Stop! Daddy stop! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"That sounds more like it," he pulled back and smiled triumphantly, reaching out to fondly tousle her brown hair. "No more attacking daddy in his sleep, you hear?"

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Aurora finally sat up and beamed back at him. "I hear."

"Good. Now then, what time is it? We've got to get you and your sisters ready for school," Paul asked to no one in particular. His hand reached across and he placed it upon his wife's knee as he leaned over to look at the clock on her side of the bed.

"It's almost six," Stephanie answered, absently running her hand through her daughter's long tresses. "I guess we can get the other two up now. I'm surprised they slept through that racket," she teased.

Paul ran his hand further up her leg and squeezed her thigh. "They've slept through louder rackets coming from this room, no?" he teased right back, enjoying the faint blush that stained her cheeks. With a low chuckle he flung the covers off and stood up, opening his arms and smiling when his daughter quickly jumped into them. "Maybe we could rediscover just where exactly this racket comes from later tonight?" he snickered, glancing at Stephanie and returning the grin currently plastered on her face.

"What are you talking about, daddy?"

The innocence of the question caused both parents to burst out laughing and Paul shook his head. "Nothing sweetheart."

"Daddy's just being…" Stephanie trailed off, trying to think of the right thing to say.

"What?"

"Silly," she finished, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement. She knew he was waiting for her to say something else. Standing up from the bed herself, she walked around to their side and kissed her daughter on the head. "I'll be out in a second sweetie. Then you can show me what colour you've decided to wear for your recital tonight." Her heart leapt at the beaming smile that appeared on her little girl's face before she turned her attention to her husband and it leapt again for a different reason entirely at his devilish expression. "_You_," she began. "You can wipe that smirk off your face," she said promptly with a cheeky slap to his ass.

"I'll get you back for that," Paul murmured, his eyes lighting up at the thought as they watched her walk through to their bathroom. He took a moment before bringing his attention back to his daughter. "Alright then, let's go wake up these sisters of yours and get you guys ready for school."

* * *

"I could really do with that fucking assistant right about now," Paul muttered under his breath. There was a huge stack of papers on his desk and all to do with the booking of arenas for live events over the next few months. Why the hell he was made EVP of this department he had no fucking idea. He was useless at organising things but ever since this whole corporate restructuring thing had begun way back when, some departments were getting cut and/or amalgamated. It was just his luck that he got stuck with the one he was probably the worst at doing. At least his wife was grateful that it wasn't on her to do list anymore. Unfortunately for him, it was now dumped on to his. He puffed out a frustrated breath just as the phone on his desk buzzed signalling an inter office call. "Yeah?" he asked distractedly, his finger hovering over the button.

"Vince wants to see you in his office, Paul," came the voice of his secretary, Vera.

"Did the meeting get moved up?" he asked in confusion, his eyes glancing to the clock on the wall. They weren't supposed to meet until near the end of the day. Then they were all heading back to the house to bring Aurora to the ballet recital.

"No. He just wants to see you. Didn't really say why."

Paul absently shrugged his shoulders and slowly got to his feet. "Thanks, Vera." He pressed the button to end the call and then stretched his arms high above his head, feeling the muscles along his back and shoulders constrict and then loosen when he brought them down again. Maybe he could finally talk the old man into giving him an extra hand around the office. God knows he could do with the help. He had no problem having Live Events under his control. He just thought that having a designated person take care of all that stuff would be much better for the company as a whole not to mention give him more time to focus on what he _was_ actually good at doing; scouting and developing talent. His hand absently fiddled with the knot of his tie, loosening the gold silk as he headed for the door. "Wonder what this is all about," he said with a roll of his eyes as he walked past Vera. She laughed in response and he kept on, heading down the hall and casually glancing around to see who was about. Less than a minute later and he was knocking on the door to his father-in-law's office.

"Paul!" Vince boomed, looking up from his desk and instantly smiling at the sight of the younger man coming to stand before him.

"What's up, pops?" Paul joked, his large frame slipping into the executive leather chair in front of the desk.

"Nothing in particular," Vince replied indifferently. "I just wanted to speak to you about that assistant you've been whining about for the past couple of months." His son-in-law made a face at him and he chuckled.

"I haven't been whining."

"I know. I'm just busting your balls. But if you can't handle the workload…"

Paul could see where this was going and immediately cut him off. "I can handle the workload, _my_ workload. But you have me doing all this other shit that quite frankly, I'm not even good at. Scouting talent, working in developmental? _That_, I'm good at. _That_, I can do. Calling up arenas and booking venues for shows however? That's not my thing, Vince. I understand that you need somebody to do it but if it's falling under my department then at least let me delegate so it's not taking up all my time." He sat back and hoped for the best. Good old pops was either going to get fully behind him or most likely dump more shit on him to fuck with his head.

A silence filled the room as Vince pondered what he had just been told before his head slowly began to nod in agreement. "I see your point. And I know I've said it before but you're doing such a great job with NXT. I'm proud of ya, Paul. I really am. And if you want an assistant to help with all the 'other shit' as you so nicely put it, then you got one. Have your secretary set it up with HR and we'll get the ball rolling."

"Thank fuck!" Paul chuckled as he let out a relieved sigh. "I was pretty sure you were going to say no."

"Why would I say no?"

"Because you're an evil son of a bitch, that's why!"

Vince's loud and hearty laugh boomed throughout the spacious office as both men laughed. "You got me there. So what time is this recital later tonight? I have Linda telling me one thing and Stephanie telling me another. Women."

"Honestly, I don't know. Steph keeps changing her mind every second. I'm just going with the flow when this meeting is over later today. That way I can't get in trouble for screwing up," Paul grinned. A happy wife equalled a happy life in his eyes. The less he did to piss Stephanie off the better.

"You're a smart man, Paul Levesque. And for that very reason I'm sticking with you as soon as that meeting's over." Vince grinned back. He was very much looking forward to his granddaughter's first ballet recital but before any of that, he needed food. "Hey, you free to grab some lunch?"

"Uhhhhh, I am actually yes," Paul muttered as he ran over his schedule in his head. He had time. "You want to order in?"

"Nah," Vince replied as he got to his feet and started pulling on his jacket. "I'd like to stretch my legs and venture down to the cafeteria today. You in?"

Paul nodded and both men left the office in search of lunch.

* * *

"Once again, sweetie, you were brilliant. We're all so proud," Stephanie hushed gently as she lay her half sleeping daughter down on the bed.

"Mhmmm," Aurora sighed dreamily, her eyes slipping shut as she succumbed to the warmth of her bed.

Paul grinned and pressed a quick kiss in her hair. "Night, sweetheart," he mumbled before straightening up and heading back to his own room. He stood at the foot of the bed and opened the buttons of his shirt. The other girls were already sleeping. It had taken Aurora a while to settle after her performance. He knew he may be slightly biased but he swore he had never seen a six year old dance the way she had danced tonight. He was practically bursting with pride and it was written all over his face even still. The same went for his wife, Vince and Linda, all of whom had been in attendance at the recital. The sudden feel of a warm pair of arms wrapping around him from behind followed by a pair of equally warm and soft hands trailing across his bare stomach caused him to jump slightly. "Hey."

"Hey," Stephanie murmured into his shirt, her lips pressing gentle kisses along his back while her nails scraped over his smooth skin.

"She was great tonight, huh?"

Stephanie brought her hands up to his shoulders, gently pulling the light yellow shirt down his thick arms to the ground and couldn't help but notice his distinct lack of hair. He had cut it around a month ago but every now and then it would still catch her off guard. Not that she was complaining. She loved his new look and thought the shorter hair was just as sexy as the longer hair. He was her husband. She'd love him if he was bald with one eye. "Uh-huh. I think ballet…just might be…her thing," she hushed between kisses, this time her lips pressing against the warm skin of his back. She let her lips trail up to kiss the back of his head, the short, soft hairs tickling her mouth and face. "Same with, Murphy….they both seem to….love it." She rubbed her face against his shoulder blade, kissing him and even nipping lightly at his flesh with her teeth. Her hands had dropped to the waist of his pants, her fingers slowly undoing his belt. She let out a soft sigh as the slacks grew loose, dropping slightly on his hips and dipped her hands inside, delighting in the feel of his deep intake of breath as her hands rubbed against his crotch. Her lips continued their journey over his back while her hands delved even further so she could cup the now growing bulge in his pants.

He simply stood there and let her go to work, savouring the softness of her hands and lips touching and kissing him all over. He suddenly felt like he needed this, he needed his wife and needed her intimately. From waking extra early this morning, to his daughter's recital and just general stress from his job, well, to say he was a little wound up would be an understatement. He let her hands tease him for a few seconds longer before turning and kissing her insistently, his tongue winding with hers over and over again. She moaned into his mouth, her hands kneading the muscles of his neck while he lowered the zip of her dress, instantly letting it drop from her curves to the floor. In a flash he unclasped her bra and they both sighed in pleasure at the feel of the other's skin. His hands dropped to her ass and he easily lifted her into his arms, their mouths never parting until they reached the bed and he gently laid her down, his lips moving to her neck.

"I guess you want to make that racket after all, huh?" he hushed against her ear, temptingly biting and pulling on her lobe.

She let out a low chuckle, her body writhing beneath him as her hands once again dipped below the waistband of his pants. "This is a dangerous game you're playing here," she managed to get out, her body absolutely on fire at his touch.

"What?"

She could feel his smile on her skin along with the prickle of his beard as he moved from one ear to the other. "This. Trying to see who can who make the most noise."

Paul suddenly pulled back and looked at her in amusement, his eyes sparkling mischievously. "Well, I know you can make me scream, baby but I'm pretty sure I can make you scream louder."

Stephanie let out a scoff and reached up to playfully slap his arm but he caught her hand and brought it to his lips instead. His playful gaze quickly turned heated and she held it intently as he sucked two fingers into his mouth, rolling his tongue around her slender digits before taking them out and moving them directly between her legs, just holding them over her panties. "About to test this theory, are we?" she half joked and swallowed hard. She was desperate to feel his touch.

"But of course," he grinned as he slowly leaned down and captured her lips once again. It was time to make that racket they had talked about this morning after all.


	3. Surprise

**A/N** **- Thanks for the reviews for this so far guys. Sorry it took so long to update. Some might think things are moving slow but I don't want to rush into the meat of the story for the sake of it. Slow and steady wins the race lol. Besides, I like dropping hints of what's going to happen down the road in these earlier chapters. Pay attention lol. Enjoy...**

**PS - I dropped a little desk mention in there for a certain somebody. You know who you are!**

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Stephanie finished typing out the last few words of her document before falling back into her leather chair in sheer relief. She took her glasses off and practically threw them onto the desk. Her brain was completely fried after working on this report ever since she had arrived at the office and her stomach was starting to grumble. She was basically working off of the coffee she had taken for breakfast this morning. The chair lightly creaked as she leaned back even further, simply taking a moment to let her head unwind. Her mind drifted back to her daughter's ballet recital last week, then to her husband and their lovemaking later that night. With that thought a gentle smile crossed her face until a loud grumble filled the room causing her to frown. Damn she was hungry. Her eyes glanced at the clock on the wall informing her that it was just after twelve in the afternoon. Deciding that she needed a half hour to recharge her batteries, Stephanie got to her feet and exited the office.

"Everything OK?" asked Elizabeth at her boss's sudden appearance. Her next meeting wasn't for another hour and a half.

"Yep. I'm just going to grab some lunch."

"I can call down for you if you wan…"

Stephanie smiled at her eagerness as she stopped at the desk for a few moments. "It's fine, Elizabeth. I could do with getting out of my office for a bit, thanks." Elizabeth had been her secretary for just under two years now and still got slightly flustered anytime she did something that wasn't on the schedule for the day. Her surprise lunch outing had obviously thrown her for a loop. "Be back in a bit."

The sound of heels clacking along the tiles filtered throughout the spacious top floor of Titan Towers as Stephanie made the short walk to the other side of the building. She smiled upon catching the eye of her husband's secretary as the older woman looked up from her computer screen. Vera had been her assistant before making the move to Paul when he became fully corporate and needed an office of his own. Both Stephanie and her father thought she was the perfect person to help him settle in smoothly and they hadn't been wrong. Besides, Vera was already very familiar with Paul through working with her anyways. They all got along great.

"Stephanie! What brings you by this side of town?" the older woman asked, her eyes smiling at the unexpected appearance of her former boss.

"My eyes were starting to burn from looking at the computer all damn morning, not to mention my stomach letting me know that it needed something to eat. I figured I'd come over here and bug him if he's free," Stephanie chuckled as she perched herself on the edge of the desk.

Vera chuckled back. "Oh I don't think he minds being bugged by you at all." Having worked for both halves of the Levesque household, she could safely say that they were every bit the perfect couple and she couldn't choose between them if she tried. They were both just really good people. "But he's actually in there with somebody right now I'm afraid."

Stephanie frowned in disappointment. "He is?"

"Yes. He's been interviewing the shortlist I made for him of potential assistants although I wouldn't exactly call it _interviewing_. More like an informal chat. He said he wouldn't know the first thing about interviewing somebody correctly for an assistant's job. So long as they don't annoy him I guess he's fine." The older woman let out an amused grunt. "Those were his exact words by the way, not mine!"

"I'm not surprised," Stephanie replied with a roll of her eyes. "Sounds just like him." She was about to ask when she thought he would be finished when the door opened and a tall leggy blonde stepped out of the office with her husband right behind her.

"I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I can," Paul smiled at the young woman.

"That would be great, Paul. I look forward to hopefully hearing back from you," the blonde smiled in response, taking his much larger hand into hers for a quick handshake before nodding at the other two women hovering around the desk and being on her way.

Paul's eyes followed her down the hall for a second until he spotted his wife out of the corner of his eye and a huge smile crossed his face. "Hey! What are you doing here? Not that I'm bothered or anything. You're a sight for sore eyes as always."

Stephanie's amused eyes briefly glanced down the hall for a quick second as she took the few steps to stand in front of him. "_Paul_ already, huh? My. That must have been some interview." His deep chuckle made her laugh and she playfully bumped his arm. "It doesn't hurt that she's easy on the eyes either."

"Are we getting jealous?" he grinned, looking between his wife and Vera in high amusement.

"Oh you'd love that!" Stephanie replied, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of their current conversation.

"I love _you_ if it helps any," he flashed his teeth in a cheesy grin, this time making them all laugh.

Vera shook her head at the two of them. This could go on all day if they let it. She'd never seen two people who loved to tease each other more than the pair standing in front of her right now. She swore they got off on it in some perverse kind of way.

His laughter subsided and his head cocked to the side curiously. "What brings you by? I wasn't expecting to see you until the department meeting later on."

"Oh I was just in the neighbourhood…" It wasn't often she was over at this side of the building. Truth be told, they rarely saw each other at the office. He had his things to do and she had hers. They would only really cross paths at meetings or at the end of the day when they met up again to go home. She followed him into his office when he motioned for her to come along and shut the door behind them.

Paul let out a sigh as he collapsed back into his chair and looked up at her seriously for the first time since he saw her. "Everything alright?" It wasn't like her to just come over for a random chat during the day. Neither of them usually had the time. His slight frown turned to a gentle smile when she walked over and sat down in his lap, her legs draped sideways over his and her arms wrapping around his neck.

"Everything's fine. I just needed to get away from that report for a bit before my head exploded. I thought I'd come see if you had the time to grab some lunch." Her hand moved to his chest and she began to fiddle with the knot of his pink tie, an absent smile crossing her face. Murphy had picked it out for him this morning, much to his chagrin of course. Anytime he asked one of their daughters to pick out a tie for him, they always picked pink or purple.

"You must be reading my mind…as usual," he smirked, letting his hand rest just above her knee. His thumb gently stroked her skin. "I was planning on lunch after that interview anyways. I've been at it all morning. Vera had to reschedule everything because your dad's being an asshole again. First he won't give me an assistant and now he won't shut the hell up until I hire one."

"Poor baby," she pouted, grabbing his cheek and giving it a playful tug. "I have no sympathy for you though, he's annoying me about everything under the sun as well." She loved her father but he could be a massive pain in the ass at times, well, all the time basically.

He let out a pensive sigh, spacing out and losing his gaze on the pen on his desk for a few moments before shaking it off and looking back up at his wife. "You want to order in? May as well take advantage of you being here and eat in privacy."

"Privacy? What are you planning on doing to me?"

"Babe, if I told you how many times a day I think about _doing_ things to you I think you'd slap me," Paul laughed, his hand caressing further up her leg.

Stephanie practically snorted at his remark and shook her head. "Any ordinary woman would be offended by that." She was vaguely aware of his hand continuing to journey up her leg but was distracted by the feel of his warm breath on her neck.

"Is this the part where I say you aren't an ordinary woman?" he murmured into the shoulder of her blouse, his mouth hovering dangerously over her skin.

"You're such a suck up." She reached down and grabbed him by the chin, bringing his head level with hers and teasingly brushing her thumb over his bottom lip. "Tell me what you're thinking right now?"

Her hushed voice and the darkening of her eyes almost made him lose it then and there. How in the hell had they ended up in this predicament? Oh how he wished they were at their home office right now. Then he'd have no problem at all in bending her over the desk and having his way with her. Dammit! He had to stop thinking like that or he was going to be in trouble. His eyes stared at her full lips in desire. It was the middle of the afternoon for Christ sakes! It was lunacy that for a split second he had even considered doing what he wanted to do. "If I do that then we'll have to make a quick trip somewhere a lot more private than this so we can act it out."

Stephanie looked at him for a moment, completely understanding what he _wasn't_ saying to her. Somehow their playful teasing had grown heated and if they didn't stop here they'd get into a sticky situation to put it mildly. She leaned down and gave him a lingering kiss, fighting back that ever present urge to just jump his bones and then leaned back against him. "Rain check?"

"You bet your sweet ass I'll take a rain check."

They shared a laugh as he leaned over and hit the intercom button to call through to Vera. "Could you call down and order some lunch for us please? Feel free to throw in something for yourself and take your break now if you want."

"Sure," Vera replied from the other side of the door, mentally taking note of both lunch orders. Five minutes later and she was buzzing back through the line. "They said it would be ready in fifteen."

"No problem. Thanks, Vera."

Paul hit the button to end the call and looked back to his wife. "I have to go to Florida this Thursday and next for the NXT tapings."

Stephanie looked at him in confusion. "Two weeks in a row? What happened to once a month?" She was looking forward to spending some time with him Thursday night since both Aurora and Murphy had a one off gymnastics class during the evening. Their instructor needed to reschedule this one time. Since the recital last week, they hadn't had two minutes together. In the back of her head she knew that was probably the real reason behind her coming to see him today during office hours. She missed him.

"I know but we're having a mini tryout this week and I really want to be there to scope these guys out. JR has signed a few college guys and I want to see them in action. I told him I'd be there, babe. Next week we have the taping itself and I need to be there for that…..sorry," he said sheepishly. He hated to disappoint her but there was nothing he could do.

"I really need to come down there and check the whole thing out, you know. I've heard so many things about it from you to dad to everybody and I haven't even seen my husband's handy work for myself. I'm a terrible wife."

He simply grinned. "You _are_ a terrible wife but I forgive you. Since you brought it up though, how about when you decide to come down we make a night of it? I might even splurge and book us into a nice hotel to boot." If there was one thing that would lift her spirits it would be the promise of the two of them getting away, even if just for a night. When a huge smile appeared on her face he knew it had most certainly done the trick.

"That sounds perfect. We'll have to do that and soon. Maybe I'll come down with you to the tapings next month."

"I can't wait for you to see the place, Steph. The whole thing is just amazing, from the talent themselves to the students helping out in the back. It's so awesome. I…."

With a proud twinkle in her eye, Stephanie settled into him and listened as he spoke with obvious enthusiasm of his work at NXT. She couldn't wait to get down there and see it all for herself. For now however, she'd settle for her husband's tales while they waited for their lunch to arrive.


	4. Beginnings

**A/N - My apologies to those of you who were promised this a few days ago lol. But hey, at least it's finally here. I'm not completely happy with it but felt I owed you guys something. And like I said, slow and steady wins the race lol. Enter Amber. Enjoy...**

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The elevator doors opened with a loud ping, signalling its arrival at the top floor. Amber Davenport stepped between the metal on either side and into the bright surroundings of Titan Towers. The floor to ceiling glass windows ensured the area was well lit as she walked past the large reception area in the centre and took a right. She wasn't here as an interviewee this time. No. She was here as an employee. The redheaded receptionist offered a warm smile and Amber returned it. She must have remembered her. A few seconds later and she arrived at her destination. A grey haired lady was busy filing something in a cabinet when she obviously sensed her presence and offered her a second warm smile of the day. She remembered seeing her after coming out of her interview last week and here she was again. Before Amber even had a second to introduce herself, the older woman walked towards her and offered her hand.

"Hello. You must be, Miss. Davenport. I'm Vera, Mr. Levesque's secretary. It's nice to meet you," Vera smiled at the woman. She looked to be in her late twenties, golden blonde hair, immaculately dressed and with an air of confidence about her.

"Yes, I think I spoke with you on the phone. It's nice to meet you too and please, call me, Amber." The two women looked at each other for a few moments before Amber motioned to the darkened office behind them. "Shall I go in or…."

"Oh, no. Mr. Levesque isn't in just yet. He won't be here for another fifteen minutes or so actually. I just wanted to get you here a little earlier so you could fill in some forms for us and sign your contract. After that he should be in by then and I'll hand you over."

"Perfect!"

Ten short minutes later and the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Both women looked up to see Paul strolling towards them chugging on a protein shake. His brown eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled at them, moving around the desk to shake his new assistant's hand. He would kiss her feet if he could get away with it truth be told. She was going to make his life a whole hell of a lot easier.

"Miss. Davenport! Great to have you on board. I hope Vera got everything sorted with you this morning because we have a busy day ahead of us." At Vera's nod he motioned for his office door. "Great. Why don't you head on in there and I'll be with you in a second."

"Sure," Amber nodded as she walked into the office and flicked the light on. She could hear them talking outside but her eyes were too busy having a snoop around her new surroundings. Last time she had been in here she had been too focused on impressing her potential new boss to take a look around. This time she let her eyes take it all in. It looked lived in but still neat and orderly. On the desk sat a tiny dinosaur head…skull…thing. She wondered what the story was behind that. Beside it sat an old dusty looking baseball and next to it, in pretty expensive looking frames, was a multitude of what she assumed to be family photographs. She was immediately drawn to one in particular. It appeared to have been taken at a lake or something. The water was so blue and the grass so green. In the distance a house could be made out but it was the foreground that caught her attention. It featured her new boss and a striking brunette woman, wrapped up in each other but caught on camera. Their huge smiles were infectious and she quickly figured out that the woman must be his wife. Other pictures were full of what she assumed to be his children. Quite frankly, they were all adorable and all girls too from the looks of it. On the other side of the desk next to the phone was a black and white picture and she couldn't help but screw her face up at it. This time he was standing there next to an older man with crazy white hair. Both of them were bleeding but with big smiles on their faces. There was something written on the picture in gold pen but she couldn't even make it out except for the 'Ric' at the bottom. She wondered what that was all about too. To put it mildly, she wasn't exactly a wrestling fan. Her talents lay in organizing and booking live events and travelling shows. That's why even though her knowledge of wrestling was limited; she was still picked for the job.

"Sorry about that. Why don't you take a seat and we'll get started."

Amber jumped slightly at the sound of his voice and ducked her head in slight embarrassment at getting caught snooping around. He didn't seem to have noticed as he simply walked to his chair and sat down, the leather letting out a puff of air. She sat on one of the chairs opposite and looked at him expectedly. This was her first day on the job after all. She wondered what they would be doing.

"So, I basically want to give you a more detailed job description, talk about a few things and then I thought it would be good if you shadowed me for a day or two, just to let you hit the ground running before I throw you in the deep end," Paul smiled as he rocked back in his chair. He had purposefully made sure that today was an easy day so that he could help her if she needed it. "But first, do you have any questions or anything you thought of when you got home that you didn't ask last time?"

"I do actually," Amber nodded. "I'm not exactly sure about your schedule and how it coordinates with mine. You kind of touched on it in the interview but I'd like to know more if that's OK?"

Paul frowned and shook his head at his own stupidity. Of course she would want to know that. "Absolutely. I'm sorry I didn't fill you in on that at the time. Basically I'm out of the office every Monday and Tuesday for our TV tapings of Raw and Smackdown. If they're on the East Coast or somewhere nearby I'll do like a half day and then leave for the shows. I'm also gone one Sunday a month for our PPV's and one Thursday a month for NXT down in Florida. You're going to be my direct contact with live events which means you'll be required to travel although not to the extent that I do. Most of your work will be done here in Stamford but you will have to travel a couple of times a month, specifically to PPV's, to some Raw's and to all the NXT tapings with me. I want you there and I want you to become very familiar with what goes on there. I pretty much want you to be able to run things down there if for whatever reason I can't make it. I told you this before and you seemed pretty open about it so I don't think it will be a problem but while your title may officially only be live events, this business is a bit crazy and you're going to have to chip in to other departments and help out if need be because I cover way more areas than just this." He stopped to gauge her reaction and smiled when her expression didn't even falter for a second at what he had just laid on her.

"That's perfectly fine. I made sure I understood that part before I left last week. I have no problem with travelling and no problem with taking on more responsibility down the road either. I'm here to do whatever you need me to do and hopefully to move up the ladder over time as well," Amber said without flinching. She wanted him to see how focused she was. She wanted to impress him. From the looks of the smile that immediately appeared on his face at her words, she had obviously done just that.

"I like your attitude. You keep that up and I think you'll find yourself moving up that ladder rather quickly." He took a moment to gather his thoughts before going on to continue filling her in and bringing her up to speed on a couple of things. Almost thirty minutes later and the phone buzzed. Paul excused himself as he pressed the intercom button.

"Just giving you a friendly reminder that your first meeting of the day started five minutes ago," Vera's cheery voice came through accompanied by a brief chuckle.

Paul's eyes quickly darted to the clock on the wall and he got up from his chair instantly. "Shit! Thanks, Vera." He released the button and within seconds was holding the door open for his companion. "Come on. We can sneak in the back and hopefully nobody will notice."

The two of them walked briskly down the corridor, Amber struggling to keep up with his long strides. "What is this meeting about?"

"It's with the marketing people. We have to sit in while they discuss some things for NXT." His voice trailed off at the end as they reached their destination. Quietly, the two of them slipped into the back relatively unseen. Paul mouthed his apologies to Frank at the head of the table and settled back into his chair, doing his best to give his full attention to what was being said. Fuck if he wasn't tired though. Smackdown had been taped yesterday from Phoenix. He hadn't got home until around six in the morning. Everybody usually woke up just before seven. Rather than try to sleep for an hour, he simply came straight to the office and got in a nice long workout instead. Needless to say, he was looking forward to seeing his family after being away from them for two days straight, not to mention getting some well earned sleep. But first he had to get through the day.

Amber sat attentively beside Paul towards the back of the room. She hadn't stopped looking around her all morning. Everything was new. It was rather exciting. The man currently speaking at the top of the table was rambling on about something or other. She was far too distracted by that incredible smell that had seemed to be following her until she figured out what it was. It was him. It was Paul and he smelled ridiculously good. She snuck a glance in his direction to find his attention fully focused on what was being said. Hell, he was even taking notes. Her eyes dropped to the page in front of him and grew a little wider at what she saw. He wasn't taking notes at all. He was doodling! This time she had to bite back her laugh at the hilarious caricature he had scribbled of some poor guy sitting across from him. At the turning of his head she instantly realized that she had been too loud and grimaced. Her grimace turned to a bashful smile however, when he simply winked at her and set his pen down, letting out a quiet chuckle of his own. He seemed to be a pretty cool guy from what she had learned of him so far and she had a really good feeling about their future working relationship. She could just tell that it was going to be…special.


	5. Familiarity

**A/N - Hey guys, I finally did it! Lol. I promised you an update in this before the year was through and here it is. Enjoy...**

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The car came to a stop and a moment passed before the door was opened. Amber stepped into the blustery air of the hangar and immediately tugged her jacket tighter around her body. She would have felt the cold if it wasn't for her complete shock at seeing the black corporate jet in front of her with the huge WWE scratch logo on the tail. Wow. When Paul had asked her to fly to Florida with him she naturally assumed he meant on a regular plane like a regular person. Obviously not. With a slightly shocked expression still on her face, she accepted her small roller bag from the car driver and slowly began making her way to the plane. A small group of men were huddled outside and shouting over the noise of the engines. Her hair blew wildly about her face as her eyes began scanning the area for somebody familiar. It seemed like she wasn't in luck. The conversation of the group gradually came to a halt as she joined the men in front of the steps. They all looked at her as if they had no clue who the hell she was or why she was there and she couldn't blame them. Maybe there had been a mistake or something. She didn't know any of them and they didn't look like they had been expecting her either.

"Can I help you, miss?" a man with a twang asked politely under the brim of his black cowboy hat.

Amber looked at him and smiled thankfully. "I'm Amber Davenport, Mr. Levesque's assistant. He told me to meet him here as I'm to accompany him to the show tonight." Silence. They were all still looking at her until she stuck her hand out to the man next to black hat. "It's nice to meet you all." For whatever strange reason, that seemed to do the trick and the men began greeting her. Jim Ross, William Regal, Michael Hayes and Dusty Rhodes. There. That was relatively painless.

"So your Hunter's assistant, huh?" Michael Hayes asked with something akin to a gleam in his eye.

She didn't know whether to be grossed out or appreciative of his interest. The horrible leer on his face certainly wasn't helping matters. "Yes. I started just last week." She had the feeling that he was about to speak again when the humming sound of an engine, this time from a car, roared behind them.

The black hummer stopped a few feet away from the group. Paul stepped out of the car and was instantly met with a steward. They spoke briefly, he handed over his keys and then grabbed his bag before making his way to join his travel companions for the evening. "Sup, guys?" he greeted, giving William Regal a friendly pat on the shoulder before turning his gaze to the obvious odd one out. He was sorry he hadn't been there before she was in order to introduce her to the guys. But it was done now. "I trust you've all met, Miss. Davenport? She's going to be a big part of NXT in the future so I thought I may as well bring her down early rather than wait, you know."

"You a wrestling fan?" JR muttered randomly.

Amber looked between him and the only familiar thing she had to go off right now in Paul as a hesitant smile crossed her face. "Ummmmm, no….I'm not."

There was a beat before JR nodded his head. "Good. Fresh eyes and all that. I look forward to getting to know you on the flight down, Miss. Amber."

As if on cue, the pilot poked his head out of the cabin door and began waving them on. "We're ready to get going, folks."

Paul smiled down at her and motioned for her get on the plane. "Go on then. Let's get out of here!"

* * *

The backstage area was still buzzing from the show as fans slowly began to filter out of the Full Sail Arena. Agents and wrestlers alike were mulling all around 'gorilla' as she had come to learn was the name for the area just behind the curtain. Amber was smiling at the scene and her heart was still beating from the action that had just taken place in the ring earlier. Her first wrestling experience. As she stood there beaming all around her, she looked up and just happened to catch the smiling eyes of somebody else. Her gaze quickly dropped to the floor shyly as he made his way towards her.

"So, your first live wrestling show," Paul grinned. "What'cha think?" The little excited glint in her eyes told him everything he needed to know but he thought he'd ask anyways.

"What do I think? I loved it! Wow. I had no idea wrestling could be so damn fun…no offense or anything," she finished sheepishly when his eyebrows rose.

He simply chuckled and shook his head. "None taken. We're not everybody's cup of tea, I know that. But it's great that you had such a good time tonight and really, this is nothing compared to TV or Pay Per View. When we get to Wrestlemania you're gonna have a kitten!"

"Wrestlemania is in New York next year, right? Wrestlemania 29 and the poster has The Rock, John Cena and….Brock…Lesnar on it?"

"Wow. Somebody's been doing their homework," he mock applauded.

She let out a low chuckle and rolled her eyes. "I try. I figure I need to know what's going on if I'm to make decisions."

"And you're absolutely right. I was thinking about it during the show but how would you like to come to Raw and Smackdown next week with me for the tapings? You had no trouble at all blending in here tonight and I don't see the point in waiting around if I think you're capable of coming along. We're in LA I think it is, California at the least. It won't be an every week type of thing but you may as well come and see what it's all about."

His question made her smile and her eyes lit up at the prospect. This was all so exciting. "I'd love to come! That would be great. I've heard all night how NXT is nothing like the big leagues so to speak. I can't wait to see for myself." Talk about a surprise. She wasn't expecting to attend a proper television taping for at least a month never mind after two weeks.

"Perfect. Remind me to tell Vera when we're in the office tomorrow morning. She'll get everything set up for you. I don't know if you'll be flying on the jet with me or if you'll have to fly commercial. Either way it won't be a problem." He took a moment and then grinned, almost in pride at how well things seemed to be going. "Great. So listen, I…."

The sudden ringing of a cell phone interrupted him and it took only a few seconds for it to sink in that it was his phone before a warm expression spread across his face. "Excuse me," he mouthed to Amber before stepping slightly off to the side and answering the call. "Hey. I was just about to call you in like five minutes. The show's just over now."

"Now? You guys ran a little late, huh?" Stephanie asked as she fell on to the bed in a heap. It was almost eleven and she was beat.

"Yeah. Some of the matches went a little over time tonight. The jet is ready to go whenever I am though. I should be on it in an hour if I'm lucky. How are the girls?"

Stephanie let out a heavy puff of air at his question. For whatever reason all three of them were really unsettled tonight. She figured it had something to do with the fact that out of the past nine days he had been home for four of them. In the past they were used to it but not anymore and not at this age either. They were used to their dad being home. She was pretty sure that him being gone all this time was the reason for them being so cranky. They missed their father and she missed him too. "They're fine. Sleeping, finally," she half laughed and it didn't go unnoticed by her husband.

Paul frowned and absently scratched at his free ear. "Finally? Everything OK, babe?" Her evasiveness was making him worry.

"Yeah, yeah. They were just pretty unsettled tonight, that's all. It took me forever to get them to bed and to sleep."

It was then that he heard how exhausted she sounded and felt like a useless dick for being unable to do anything about it. "But they're OK, right?"

"They're fine, honey so stop worrying. I can literally feel you worrying through the phone waves right now," she joked, finally pulling back the covers and snuggling underneath. Their bed always felt so damn big when she slept in it alone.

The fact that she had managed a small joke lightened his mood and he smiled even though she couldn't see it. "Listen, I'll let you go here so you can get some sleep. You sound like you need it." While it was certainly tiring having to travel all the time, he sometimes forgot that his wife was left at home with three small children and still had to do everything else she did on a daily basis. She really was superwoman and he admired her greatly for it. "Don't wait up. Get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning."

"OK," Stephanie sighed sadly. She missed him. "I love you. See you tomorrow."

"I love you too, night."

Paul hung up the phone and turned around to find Amber sitting on an equipment crate looking around her in a daze. The area seemed to have magically cleared. Little did he know that she had been listening to every word of the one sided conversation. She was used to him in boss mode as, well, her boss. That was the only time she saw him. But for a couple of minutes tonight she had gotten a glimpse into him as a husband and she had to say he wore it well. Simply put, he was just a genuinely nice guy and she truly enjoyed working for him. "Everything OK" she asked upon seeing the far away expression on his face.

"Huh? Yeah, everything's fine. Uhhhh, I kind of need to be on my way now though in order to get home. Since you're riding with me, I'm sorry but you're gonna have to leave too."

"That's completely fine. I overheard the other guys talking about how they're all flying or driving home from here instead of heading back to Connecticut. There'd be nobody for me to talk to anyways!"

He nodded his head and began walking towards his case to collect it. "Very true. Come on and maybe we can get home at a reasonable time."

"I doubt that very much."

"So do I but there's no harm in trying."

Amber simply smiled and fell into step beside him as they made their way throughout the emptying halls of the arena. It had been a cool experience, coming down here tonight and getting a firsthand glimpse into operations from beyond the desk. She simply couldn't wait for Monday to experience Raw after all this. She also couldn't wait to learn all that she could from Paul either. Being so new to the wrestling business, he was pretty much forced into the role of being a mentor of sorts to her and she had the funny feeling that his passion for the business was most definitely going to rub off on her too. The more time she spent around it, the more she fell in love with it.


	6. Desire

**A/N - Short-ish update here but I want to keep the ball rolling with this and make things start to happen. Don't hate me lol. Enjoy...**

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Amber felt the excitement course through her veins. This was incredible. She could hear the noise of the fans in the arena, could feel the anticipation building. She had never experienced anything like this in her life. The backstage halls of the Staples Centre were energized and just about ready to pop from the pressure. Her baby blue eyes glanced towards the empty seats at the gorilla position, a much larger gorilla position than the one down at NXT on Thursday. This one had much more equipment and plenty of room for a number of people to hang about it. She leaned against the upright, her arms folded across her chest and ignoring the looks shot her way. Nobody knew who she was. In a way, she really couldn't blame them for looking at her funny. She was quickly learning that this was a very peculiar industry with a lot of unique personalities and big egos. Most of her day had been spent simply observing these men and women going about their pre-show routine. The rest had been spent basically following Paul around like a puppy and sitting in on whatever he was doing which was completely fine with her. She had a feeling that if she had been left to fend for herself she would have been eaten alive by the circus. With her mind drifting towards her boss, she couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face. She was so grateful that he had even brought her along to the tapings this week. It was an intimidating atmosphere but she was more than up to the challenge. Besides, with Paul at her side, she felt comfortable here. Just then, the man himself rounded the corner in a small group of people that came to a stop just in front of the desks. He had told her to wait here for him a couple of minutes ago when their last meeting had finished up. It was almost show time. She saw him end his conversation and look around him, his brown eyes finally settling on hers. He offered a smile and waved his hand, motioning her over.

"Hey," Paul smiled at his assistant. He wanted to get her settled before Raw started so he could focus on directing the show.

"Hey. So, just tell me where to sit and I'll get out of your hair."

Her statement was exactly what he wanted to hear and he nodded his head in approval. The more they worked together, the more they started to gel as a team. It made his life easier, not having to explain himself to her all the time and he was very grateful for it. "Great," he smiled again, this one a little softer and appreciative. His big hand gestured to a chair he had specifically set right behind his and Vince's chairs so she could sit in and watch everything up close and personal. He wanted to teach her this so she could fill in and help out at any given time and at any live event if the occasion arose. "I got you a seat right behind me. You basically just have to sit there the rest of the night and watch. Sound good?"

She nodded her head and sat down in the chair before looking back up at him. "Perfect."

With her seated, Paul turned his attention back to the screens in front of him and noticed the timer at the top right hand corner. Ten minutes. He heard the fans go crazy in the arena as Justin Roberts gave the ten minute warning. He locked eyes with his father in-law and the two men wore a determined expression. Time to go to work.

* * *

"I need to fucking sleep. God dammit," Vince grumbled under his breath as he stalked on ahead of his companions, his foul mood evident to anyone in the vicinity.

Paul turned to Amber and meekly shrugged his shoulders. "Don't mind him. He gets that way when a migraine strikes." The two of them walked behind the elder McMahon as the trio headed towards the large white tour bus parked a few feet ahead. Smackdown was in San Diego, just an hour or two south of LA and rather than fly, they decided to take the bus. Paul had invited Amber since there was no real point in her renting a car when she could easily take the bus with him.

"It's fine," Amber smiled back at him absently, her focus elsewhere, mainly, on the huge bus that they had just stopped in front of. It was massive. Paul stepped back to let her climb aboard and her eyes almost popped out of her head. The interior was beautiful and so…luxurious. She couldn't believe this was a bus! It looked more expensive than her damn apartment. "Wow."

"Nice, huh?"

She dipped her head in embarrassment when she turned and caught him grinning at her. She hadn't meant to say that out loud and simply nodded in agreement. The bus was more than nice.

"We decided to get a bus when Steph got pregnant with Aurora so she could travel with us. Now I refuse to go anywhere without it. My home away from home." He motioned to the couch and began loosening the tie around his neck. "Make yourself comfortable, I'm going to…."

"PAUL!"

The loud bark emanating from the back of the bus was quickly followed by the appearance of a dishevelled Vince McMahon. He had already stripped off his shirt and was standing with his t-shirt hanging over his slacks.

"What?"

"Come move all this shit off your damn bed so I can lie on it, will you?"

Paul simply shook his head, a wry grin on his face, and followed his father in law to the bedroom after excusing himself. After taking a look at the state the room was in however, he couldn't help but cringe. The room had clothes and random shit all over the place. This is what happened when his wife didn't travel with him. He could get away with being a lazy bastard. He placated the old man and started moving things off the bed and into their rightful place, quickly snapping up a scrap of red lace and shoving it into his pocket before Vince could see it. "Sorry," he cleared his throat and apologized quickly all the while trying to ignore the burning piece of underwear in his pocket. The last thing he needed was for Vince to see his daughter's fucking thong in the middle of their bed. He didn't even know where the hell it had come from since his wife hadn't been on the bus for a couple of weeks. Maybe she was planting shit in here to remind him of her and what he was missing. Seductive wench. They were most definitely having a conversation about this when they next spoke, that was for sure. "There you go. There's some Advil in the cupboard there if you need it. I'll wake you when we get there, alright?"

Vince's features softened as he watched the younger man pull the small curtain at the back of the room shut to enclose the room in darkness. "Thanks, Paul. I just need to….."

"I know," Paul simply smiled back at him before walking out of the room. The stuffiness of the rest of the bus immediately hit him in the face and he frowned, pulling at the collar of his shirt. "Fuck it's warm." Walking back out into the living room area, he looked to Amber still perched on the edge of the couch and frowned again. "Are you hot? I'm frying here. You mind if I change out of this damn suit?"

"Go right ahead, it's your bus," she replied with a smirk at his dramatic fanning. He made a quick stop at what she presumed to be the thermostat and in an instant a wonderful blast of cool air was thrust upon her. It felt wonderful. She went back to her shameful gawking of her surroundings and had to physically stop herself from making some retarded sounding noise when he reappeared in front of her. He had changed into a pair of black shorts and a faded grey gym shirt and all of a sudden her heart began to hammer in her chest.

Paul plopped down next to her on the couch and let out a sigh, his hand reaching for the remote and flicking on the TV. "Feel free to change if you want to. I don't mind."

He was simply sitting there flicking through the channels while she sat next to him trying not to die. She had googled him of course and had seen the pictures of him in his wrestling gear. Hell, she had even watched some of his matches and segments on the show. But she swore she had never seen arms that big before and couldn't stop herself from imagining what he looked like under that t-shirt. Her eyes drifted lower to his parted thighs as he lounged against the leather and she was forced to snap them shut. No. She should not be sitting there practically salivating over her boss. Her fucking _boss_! "I'm fine thanks," she managed to squeak out before clearing her throat and reaching into her purse to pull out her phone. She desperately needed to occupy her hands before they did something horribly stupid. This was just a big no. She loved working for Paul. He was kind and sweet and considerate and patient and all those wonderful things you could ask for in a boss. He also happened to have a wicked sense of humour and she found him hilarious. As the weeks wore on, she found herself really looking forward to coming into work, not just because she was falling in love with the job, but because she was…nothing. Paul was her boss. He was also married with children. So what if his knee was almost touching hers as they chilled out on the couch on his tour bus. This was completely normal. He probably brought all his assistants or people he worked with on his bus. Hell his father in law was sleeping in the back. She just had to get over herself really. Yes. There was nothing else to it….she told herself anyway.


	7. Runaway

**A/N - Yay for updates, right? This is mostly a filler chapter but it serves its purpose and keeps things ticking over. I keep saying that this one will have a slow build and that's the truth. You want the juicy shit you're just going to have to keep reading lol. Enjoy...**

* * *

"Murphy come bac….." Stephanie cried after her hyper daughter.

Paul let out a chuckle as the tiny blonde took off in the direction of the colourful play area directly ahead of them. He felt another pair of eyes burning into the side of his head and with a dramatic sigh, placed Vaughn on to the ground so she could follow after her sister. It was Saturday and somehow his wife had convinced him to come shopping with her. The only reason he agreed was because he had barely seen his family all week and wanted to spend time with them. Aurora had ballet practice and they would pick her up when it was over. That left over two hours surrounded by his shopaholic wife and two daughters who were absolutely hyper from the ice cream they had consumed a little while earlier. It was times like these that he wished he had a son. They could stay at home and do man things together like play catch or play a video game or something. Snapping out of it, he turned to his wife. "They'll be fine here. I can stay with them while you look around…"

"No! Why is Aurora the only person in this family who actually likes shopping with me?" Stephanie whined as she grabbed his arm and tugged on it. It was just her luck that Aurora wasn't here either.

"_Steph_," he whined back, brushing her hand off him as his lips fell into a pout.

"Mommy look at the new princess doll!" Murphy interrupted by thrusting the large pink box right into her mother's face.

"Can we get it? Please," chirped her younger sister.

"Yeah, please, mommy please! Daddy please, please!"

Both parents looked at each other in secret communication. Paul rolled his eyes and pointed at the box. "This is what happens when we go shopping," he said as a matter of fact and bit back his grin at the utter look of contempt thrown his way in response.

Stephanie debated with herself for a few seconds until she nodded her head and smiled. "You can have it but only if you promise to be good girls while mommy and daddy have a look around, OK?"

"YES!"

"I want the purple one!" cried Vaughn, her voice disappearing round the corner along with the rest of her as she ran back to the shelf and grabbed the one she wanted. In a matter of seconds she was standing before her parents holding a purple princess doll in one hand and a blue princess doll in the other. She held them both up and shook the blue one when she saw her mother look at it. "For Rora," she said innocently, naturally assuming that if she and Murphy were getting a new toy that their older sister would get one too.

Paul affectionately patted her head and took the blue doll from her little hand. "That's OK. We'll let your sister pick something for herself next time. Come on and we'll pay for these." He narrowed his eyes at his wife as they walked past her and headed for the cash register. She had worked that to perfection. The triumphant smile she flashed back only made it worse. Bitch!

The lady behind the till smiled as first a pink box was set on the desk followed by a purple one. She could just about make out two little heads of blonde hair peering up at her excitedly. A tall man soon followed and one by one, picked them up and sat them on the edge of the desk. He smiled sheepishly at her as he grabbed his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. "Will this be everything for you today, sir?"

"Unfortunately not," Paul mumbled under his breath. This was only the beginning, of that he had no doubt.

"Daddy look…lolly pops!"

Paul followed his daughter's pointed hand and saw the box of Mickey Mouse lolly pops sitting at the edge of the counter. Great. More sugar. He was just about to tell them no when two pairs of eyes stared back at him expectedly. God, he was such a sucker and they knew completely and totally knew it. "Alright," he let out with a heavy sigh.

Stephanie came to stand beside her husband and shared a knowing look of amusement with the lady behind the till as two little hands eagerly latched on to their new possessions. Those girls had him wrapped around their little fingers. She smoothed Vaughn's light blonde hair and ran her fingers across her husband's lower back.

"Mommy look, we got lollies too!" Murphy held up the candy on a stick with a delighted smile.

"Both of you have to stick to your promise and be good while we shop, remember?" Her words fell on deaf ears, both girls too infatuated with their new toys to pay her any attention whatsoever.

"I gotta give you props for that one, babe," Paul reluctantly admitted as he smiled at the lady before depositing his children back on the floor. The two of them stayed right in front of their parents and talked amongst themselves.

Stephanie fell into step beside him and took his hand. "You do?" She was trying to hide her smile and failing miserably.

"Well played," he chuckled, giving her hand a quick squeeze before entwining their fingers. "And now you get to drag us all around shopping with you. I hope you're happy."

"I am happy."

"Although considering the fact that the smurfs over there got gifts don't you think I should get one too?" He asked innocently. "I definitely think I should."

"Oh of course you do," she rolled her eyes. "But I think we can work something out for you. Weren't you complaining about only having pink ties the other day? We'll get you some new ones today, how about that?"

"You want to buy ties? Well damn, I knew you were kinky but I didn't think you were _that_ kinky," he replied, completely turning it back around on her with a cheeky grin on his face.

Stephanie burst out laughing and bumped his shoulder with her head. "You know how kinky I am, baby. Don't act surprised," she whispered into his ear and got a right kick out of the utterly goofy expression that crossed his face when he turned and looked at her.

"Sometimes it amazes me that you can talk so much bullshit, you know that?"

"I learn from the best….come on, let's start here!" She dragged him towards the Armani counter and directed the kids that way also. A short but impeccably dressed man came to greet them in an instant.

"How are you today? Can I help you with anything?"

"Yes, we're looking for some ties. My husband wants to try something a little more _exciting_ in the design department."

The man's eyes lit up and he took off with his wife following right behind him, not before she threw a cheeky smile his way of course, and Paul couldn't help but shake his head. Taking both his daughter's by the hand, he started leading them in the direction of the back wall. "Come on girls. Time to watch your mother in her element."

* * *

Over an hour later and Paul found himself sitting in an overly plush chair outside the fitting rooms while his wife tried on any number of items inside. He was intently focused on pulling up the infinitely too fucking small dress on this infinitely too fucking stupid doll. Jesus Christ. He had no idea why the hell they made these things so damn difficult. He spent his life dressing and undressing fucking Barbies because his kids were never able to do it themselves and he wasn't surprised given how much trouble he had with them. The fact that his fingers were so big didn't help matters either. Impossible things. With one final tug, he smiled victoriously at the now fully clothed doll and held it out to Vaughn only to catch a flash of her little green t-shirt as it disappeared behind the curtain into the fitting room once again, no doubt to join her mother and sister who had been in there for ages now. Just as he dropped the doll into his lap, he heard a muffled chuckle from behind and snapped his head around to find a surprising but familiar face staring back. Realizing what she had been laughing at, he dipped his head and smiled sheepishly. "I would say it's not what it looks like but you know…."

Amber let out a laugh as he wagged the doll in her face. To say she was surprised to see him sitting in the middle of the department store fiddling with a doll would be an understatement. In fact, she had spied him around ten minutes ago but only now worked up the courage to come over and say hello, that and the fact that it had taken her heart all this time to calm the fuck down and not beat right out of her chest. Seeing him at work was one thing. Seeing him unexpectedly while she was out shopping was another. She wasn't prepared for that and in the cover of secrecy; she had shamelessly checked him out over a million times. It was something she couldn't really do at work because, well, she was at work and it would be wholly inappropriate to check out your boss on the clock. But here? Well, he didn't know she was around and she took full advantage of that. He looked amazing in his jeans and navy blue polo shirt. Fuck. She really needed to get a grip here. Catching herself and quickly, she gestured towards the doll and winked conspiratorially. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

"Thank God!" he cried dramatically. "Could you imagine if that got out? People would start to worry," he chuckled as he stood up to talk to her. It would probably be rude if he just sat there not to mention awkward. "So, doing some shopping I see."

"Yeah. I had nothing better to do this weekend so…."

Paul groaned at her admission. "I wish. I hate shopping but here I am, right? Thankfully my daughter's ballet practice is over in a bit so we can get the hell out of here and go pick her up."

"What's with the doll then?" Amber probed playfully.

"Ha. That would belong to one of my other daughter's thank you very much. Both of them are in there doing God knows what while their mother tries on half the fucking store."

She smiled apologetically at him. He seemed to be in a bit of a grumpy mood today. It was rather cute actually. Just as she was about to speak again, she noticed a little girl run over and basically hug his leg to get his attention. He broke their gaze and reached down to pick her up and Amber found herself looking at a miniature female version of him looking right back at her.

"Who's that?" Murphy asked pointedly. She had never seen this woman before and didn't know why her dad was talking to her.

Paul chuckled at her bluntness and motioned to Amber with his hand. "This is my assistant, sweetheart. Amber. Say hello."

"Hello Amber. I'm Murphy."

An amused smile crept on to the blonde's face as she shook the little hand that was instantly stuck out in front of her. "Nice to meet you, Murphy." She turned her attention to Paul. "She looks so much like you."

"Everybody says that," Murphy grinned and snuggled into her father's large neck. "I look just like my daddy."

"And that's why you're so adorable, right?"

"Right!"

Amber watched as they shared kisses on the cheek and felt her chest grow tight when he looked back at her and that huge smile of his beamed in her direction. Jesus she really had to stop this. He was standing in front of her literally beaming as he held his daughter in his arms while his wife was only a few feet away and there she was feeling all sorts of inappropriate feelings because he smiled at her. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This really wasn't going to go away, was it? In fact, it only seemed to be getting worse. Her brow grew hot, the back of her neck sticky and she knew she just had to get out of there. This wasn't right and God help her if his wife so happened to come out of the changing room. She didn't know what she would do when they were finally introduced and was hoping and praying that Mrs. Levesque didn't see straight through her. The mere thought of it caused her to panic and she blurted out the first thing that came to her head, anything to get her away from him and fast."So listen, it was great running into you but I really need to be going."

"…..alright?"

"See you Monday!" she called over her shoulder.

Paul stood in slight confusion at her abrupt departure and wondered if he had said or done something to make her take off like that. He thought she had been acting a little oddly every now and then since they came back off the road earlier this week. Maybe something had happened with one of the boys. He made a mental note to ask her when he got the chance and didn't realize that he was just standing there staring off into space for a couple minutes until Murphy interrupted him.

"Are you ready to see what Mommy picked?"

He bounced her in his arms and nodded his head. "She finally picked something, huh? Let's see it then." He spun them around and his breath instantly caught in his throat. His wife stood there absolutely stunning in a black dress with a cut-off design over her chest area.

"Well? I thought I'd pick this up to wear over Mania weekend next year since I'm going to need a couple of dresses. What do you think?"

"It's..….great. Wow," he cleared his throat and shook his head slightly. "I didn't know you were trying on _dress_ dresses. Buy it. Right now."

Stephanie laughed at his persistence and also felt a little flutter in the pit of her stomach at the darkening of his eyes. She suddenly wanted to go home and put the kids to bed. Was it late enough for that yet? Probably not. "I will. Just let me get changed back again and then we can go get Aurora and for something to eat."

His eyes never left her as she headed back in the changing room with Vaughn in tow. He was hungry all right but certainly not for food after seeing _that_. His wife was a fucking goddess. She could wear a paper bag and be the sexiest woman in the world. Put a dress like that on her and he was a goner. Needless to say, he was rather anxious to get home and spend some time alone with her. It felt like forever since they'd had some time to just be them. Even if they had tonight, and that was totally dependent on their kids behaving and going to bed at a reasonable time, it was still only one night. He wanted more than that and made another mental note to get to work on organizing some sort of getaway for them when she came to visit NXT in a couple of weeks, hell, maybe even sooner than that if he had his way.


	8. Jealousy

**A/N - I hope you all saw Stephanie on Raw and died a beautiful death like me. Since BITCH was so nice to me in her last chap, I now dedicate this one to her because she loves Amber and wants to be her. Thank you to all who review and enjoy...**

* * *

"When do you want me to pencil this in?"

Paul glanced up from the script in his hand and smiled at his assistant. She had quickly become like another limb to him. Anything he needed, she was there and as a result he was able to relax a little. He knew she had his back. "We've actually decide to leave it until next time. Well, the students are going to shoot it themselves and mail to us. We'll have a look at it then. That way we don't have to travel down there just to oversee things every time they have to do a shoot."

"That's…better."

"I know, right?" he chuckled.

Amber forced a smile, silently praising the lord that the day trip next week had been cancelled. Bad enough that they were going tomorrow but it would have simply been her….and Paul….and nobody else. With the thoughts that had been running through her head recently, it was better that she stayed out of close quarter situations concerning him. Just last night she had woken at an ungodly hour with a fine sheen of perspiration coating her skin. Her breathing had been laboured, her heart beating fast and the dull throb between her legs had been caused by a not so friendly dream about her boss. Her attraction to him was growing every day and it was becoming harder and harder to control it.

"Besides, there's something else I have planned for you today. Nothing major but I think it's about time that it happened."

His words piqued her interest. What did he have in store? It was almost six so it couldn't be anything too taxing. They were getting ready to go home after all. "Well what is it?"

Paul went to speak when there was a knock on the door and it opened, the familiar figure stepping through with a wide smile. Her eyes held the promise of a more intimate greeting but she sufficed with a professional nod of the head. They were at work after all and in the presence of an employee. "Amber, I'd like you to meet my wife, Stephanie. Steph, this is Amber."

"It's nice to finally meet you," Stephanie said warmly as she shook the other woman's hand. "Paul is constantly singing your praises and you seemed to have lightened his load to some degree. I guess a thank you is in order for that." She discreetly let her baby blue eyes check the blonde out. She wore a grey pencil skirt and white shirt, her honey blonde hair pulled back into a smart bun. She'd be lying to herself if she said this woman wasn't attractive. She was. Very attractive as a matter of fact and annoyingly, it bothered her.

Amber almost froze when she saw the tall brunette enter the room. It was his wife. Dear God if this woman had any idea of the way she dreamed about her husband she'd probably slap the taste out of her mouth right now. Fuck, she had to get a grip. "Nonsense," she smiled in response and waved her hand. "I'm only doing my job."

"From what I hear you're doing it very well."

"She's great," Paul chimed in.

It made her heart soar to know that Paul thought so highly of her and Amber couldn't contain the huge smile that engulfed her face. He clearly valued her and liked working with her. Tiny bubbles started to float in her stomach and a light blush stained her cheeks as her eyes dropped to the ground. He liked her. It was almost enough to make her burst.

Stephanie hid her frown. The beaming smile and faint blush didn't go unnoticed. What was she blushing for? And why had her entire face lit up when her husband smiled at her?

"I learn from the best," Amber managed to squeak out and was delighted when her boss smiled at her once again, this time his expression playful.

"You should say that again, just to make sure she hears it." Paul turned to his wife and grinned at the light slap he received on the arm in response.

"Oh I hear it often enough, thank you very much," Stephanie rolled her eyes and pushed the other thoughts from her head. She was being silly. "Too often now that I think about it."

Paul scoffed and shook his head. "Don't listen to her, Amber. She knows I'm the best too, she just hates to admit it."

"I wonder why?"

Their banter drew light laughter from all involved and Amber took the break in conversation to let her eyes travel over the woman before her. She looked even more stunning in person than she did in the photos on his desk. Her chestnut hair fell softly around her face and the modern black and white business dress she wore complimented the air of elegant beauty surrounding her. All of a sudden she felt incredibly small. This woman was beautiful, a mother of three, a company executive and her boss's wife. How could she stand in front of her after the thoughts that plagued her mind these days? It was sinful yet the moment she caught his gaze again, the butterflies in her stomach returned. This wasn't going to go away. So lost in her thoughts she didn't realize she had been asked a question until both of them were staring at her in confusion. "Sorry?"

"I said you can go on. I'm about to go myself I just need to finish something up real quick. You can head home and I'll see you in the morning." Paul looked at her strangely. She had that funny look on her face again, the same look she had when they ran into each other at the department store last weekend.

"Great. I uhhhh, I'll meet you at the airport tomorrow then. Bye. Nice to meet you, Stephanie." As fast as she possibly could, Amber shook the other woman's hand one more time, flashed a quick smile at her boss and ducked out the door.

There was a stagnated silence in the room for a few seconds until Stephanie turned to her husband and looked at him curiously. "She's a bit…odd, don't you think?"

"Odd? What do you mean odd? She's great. I couldn't ask for anything more out of her. She does everything I need her to do and more."

Her husband's almost defensive reply was unsettling. "I only meant her personality. I mean she wasn't exactly very talkative was she?"

Paul's handsome features scrunched into a frown. "I guess she was just nervous although I do think something has been bothering her recently. I keep meaning to ask her what it is."

"As long as it isn't interfering with her work then it isn't really any of your business, honey," Stephanie stated simply before walking towards the door herself. "I'm going to say goodbye to dad. Come by when you're finished up." She was having none of that conversation. What did he care that she was acting funny? It bothered her and she was forced to admit the sad truth that she probably wouldn't be paying the other woman half as much attention if she wasn't so attractive or even better, if she was a man. All this time her husband had been working and travelling alone with a beautiful woman and she had no fucking clue. The fact that he didn't feel the need to tell her this or introduce them sooner was also rather annoying.

Confused brown eyes watched as the door quietly slid shut. Paul shrugged his shoulders absently. He felt like that was an order more than it was a passing comment. What the hell was her problem? With a heavy sigh, he gathered up some files and locked them into his briefcase. They could wait until later. Right now all he wanted to do was get home and spend some time with his girls.

* * *

The apartment was dark except for the glow of the laptop screen. Amber settled under the covers and pulled the computer on to her lap with the intentions of getting a quick bit of work done before bed. God knows it would come in handy tomorrow when she would no doubt end up sitting there lost in her thoughts at some stage. They had an early flight to Orlando for NXT and would be spending the day there until it was time to come home again. That meant an entire day with Paul. Alone. Working closely. Probably having lunch. Fuck. What was she going to do? She thought meeting the man's wife would be enough to get these stupid thoughts out of her head but nope. They were still going strong. She was also pretty sure that she was starting to develop feelings for him and that wasn't good at all. "Fuck," she sighed heavily into the darkness. A loud bang from the front of the apartment drew another expletive as she got to her feet and begrudgingly opened the front door. Her roommate stumbled inside with her loser boyfriend in tow. They both reeked of alcohol and their wide, glazed eyes were indicative of something much stronger. Fucking druggies. Not even bothering to stick around, Amber simply locked the door and went back to her room.

* * *

"Read again, daddy."

The soft mumble of his eldest daughter's voice brought a gentle smile to his lips. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, secure in the knowledge that in the few seconds since she had spoken, her eyes would have dropped and she would be sleeping by now. "Doesn't look like you need it, kiddo. Night." Doing the rounds, he made sure to visit each of his sleeping children before heading back to the master bedroom. He whipped his shirt off along the way and chucked it onto the chair near the window before climbing into bed. Stephanie was nowhere to be seen. Since they had got back from the office, she had been acting a little cold and he wanted to know why. The last thing he needed was for him to fly out in the morning in the middle of a stupid fight.

"They're dead to the world," Stephanie chuckled as she shut the door and made her way to the side of the bed. She refused to meet her husband's gaze while she changed, certain that he was going to question her behaviour towards him since they had got home. And she couldn't really blame him either. Petty jealousy and silly paranoia had led to her basically ignoring him all evening. It wasn't right but she wasn't exactly prepared to sit and talk about it either. Deciding instead to opt for the route of formality, she settled into bed beside him and began to fluff her pillow. "What time is your flight?"

"You know what time my flight is. How about we talk about what bug crawled up your ass tonight instead?" In his mind there was no point beating around the bush. The loud scoff he received in response was expected.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've barely said two words to me since we got in the car to come home. Did I do something wrong because if I did I have no clue what the hell it is?"

Immediately feeling guilty at the fact that he was placing blame on himself, Stephanie turned to face him and sighed. "You didn't do anything, Paul….."

"Then what….."

"Nothing….it's stupid and I'm sorry, OK?"

Paul frowned and shook his head. "No it's not OK. Something's obviously bothering you."

She let out another frustrated sigh. He wasn't going to drop this and she didn't want to fight with him, not over something so silly and especially when he was going to be gone all day tomorrow. "Why didn't you tell me that your assistant could pass for a fucking model and why the hell has it taken me so long to meet her? Were you trying to hide her from me or something?" There was a long pause before he burst out laughing, an act which only infuriated her even more. "I'm glad you find this so funny."

"Oh God, you're jealous!" Paul cried in amusement. His head rolled against the headboard as his body shook with laughter. He couldn't believe this.

"I am not!" she huffed back in vain.

"Yes you are!" Laughter subsiding for a moment or two, he placed his hand on her thigh and rubbed up and down softly. "Steph you have nothing to be jealous of. Yeah, Amber's a pretty girl but she's not you. Understand? I love you, baby. Nobody else."

His sincere words and hushed voice snapped her mood and she couldn't stop the tiny grin that crossed her face. "I love you too and can we please drop this now? I'm not jealous I just don't like the fact that my husband is working side by side with an almost supermodel every day."

"I've been working with a supermodel long before Amber came into the picture."

Her defences finally cracked with that little line and she bumped his shoulder playfully when he leaned against her. "You could charm the pants off a nun sometimes you know that?"

"Nuns don't wear pants, babe."

"I'll have to defer to your knowledge of nuns on that one I guess." Her husband was a total dork and she loved him with everything she had. It was only natural that other women would show an interest too or maybe even develop a little crush of sorts. From what she had witnessed earlier tonight, it appeared that maybe that's all it was. Lots of people were attracted to their bosses and Paul was a pretty charming and easy going guy. It wouldn't surprise her to discover that some of the women in the office may feel that way towards him. It didn't bother her. What did bother her was the fact that his tall statuesque and model-like assistant seemed to be exhibiting the same feelings. Given the close nature of their relationship, she decided there and then to keep a close eye on one Amber Davenport.


End file.
